The Presidential Daily Brief

intriguing

Pioneering Author Tom Wolfe Dies at 88

He had the right stuff. The hugely influential journalist, whose celebrated books include The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and The Right Stuff, died Monday in a Manhattan hospital. His nonfiction work laid the foundation for a genre that came to be known as New Journalism, using deep reporting and colorful writing to bring readers fascinating and diverse stories — from America’s first astronauts to the burgeoning West Coast counterculture scene of the 1960s. Wolfe is survived by his wife, Sheila, and two children.